Hat comeback

[RHY]

Hat trends

It seems that during times of economic down turns, people tend to get nostalgic for simpler times and values. In the mid-1970s recession, people looked to the "Happy Days" of the 1950s to movies like "American Graffitti" to lift our spirits.

In this current economic situation that commentators last year referred to as the worse since the Great Depression, I think the country has to look farther back to get the feeling of how to face this down turn. Hats, especially fedoras, seem to bring back the feelings of the times of the 1930s and 1940s when times were a lot tougher and that "Greatest Generation" toughed it out and made the best of a bad situation. I see it as a commentary honoring that spirit that we all need today.

RHY

 

[elvisroe]

I think Rosie Boylan has been mentioned elsewhere around the lounge but she's a pretty interesting Milliner from sydney who takes guys hats pretty seriously and believes we will see a return to classic styles.

Most recently she made a stack of WW2 era hats for the movie "Australia" (some great vintage look fedoras!) and has just completed an international study tour exploring "contemporary and historic practices in men's headwear design"

She had some great quotes in an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald...

"Hats are the identifier of style and the individual, and with the casualisation of dress, the hat is an accessory they can use to set themselves apart from others,

"Women wear a hat to create a mood or a changeable note. Men wear hats to define who they are.

"I want to come back to Australia and reinvigorate the Australian hat industry.

"I think men are ready to reconnect now and accept the hat as part of their personal dress and styling."

Lets hope so!

 

[Widebrim]

I think Rosie Boylan has been mentioned elsewhere around the lounge but she's a pretty interesting Milliner from sydney who takes guys hats pretty seriously and believes we will see a return to classic styles.

Most recently she made a stack of WW2 era hats for the movie "Australia" (some great vintage look fedoras!) and has just completed an international study tour exploring "contemporary and historic practices in men's headwear design"

She had some great quotes in an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald...

"Hats are the identifier of style and the individual, and with the casualisation of dress, the hat is an accessory they can use to set themselves apart from others,

"Women wear a hat to create a mood or a changeable note. Men wear hats to define who they are.

"I want to come back to Australia and reinvigorate the Australian hat industry.

"I think men are ready to reconnect now and accept the hat as part of their personal dress and styling."

Lets hope so!

I certainly do hope she is correct. Yet if she is not, we that wear hats will continue to do so as a mark of our individuality and connection to the past.

 

[chanteuseCarey]

I would have to disagree with Miz Boylan...

about only one thing-about why she says women wear a hat. "... create a mood, a changeable note"? Huh, what...??

I've worn hats for years, long before I ever wore vintage clothing. And never were/are they worn for the reasons she claims here that ladies do!! For my vintage 40s style I almost always wearing a vintage hat with my ensembles. Its simply what was worn back then, just like wearing gloves.

I wear hats modern or vintage for the very same reasons and purposes she says that men do. Plus I really enjoy them! Hats have been a part of my personal dress and styling since I was a teen (I'm 50-1/2yo now), and I wear them to set myself apart from others. I'm not like anyone else, (I don't dress like anyone else either) nor do I wish to be...

I'm willing to concede I may be a rare female in this regard...

I think Rosie Boylan has been mentioned elsewhere around the lounge but she's a pretty interesting Milliner from sydney

She had some great quotes in an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald...

"Hats are the identifier of style and the individual, and with the casualization of dress, the hat is an accessory they can use to set themselves apart from others,

"Women wear a hat to create a mood or a changeable note. Men wear hats to define who they are.

"I think men are ready to reconnect now and accept the hat as part of their personal dress and styling."

Lets hope so!

 

[CRH]

I certainly do hope she is correct. Yet if she is not, we that wear hats will continue to do so as a mark of our individuality and connection to the past.

And don't forget that the youngsters are watching us and some of them will dig it. This is our connection to the future .

 

[Widebrim]

And don't forget that the youngsters are watching us and some of them will dig it. This is our connection to the future .

I do hope so!

 

[Brinybay]

History, in short, does not repeat itself.

In its heydays, a fedora was more than just a piece of fashion. Hat-wearing was a part of social culture. Although hats may return to fashion, every now and then, that culture cannot return ...because the times have changed.

The OP question and your response brings to mind this quote:

"The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there..." Leslie Poles Hartley (30 December 1895 – 13 December 1972) from his book The Go-Between (1953).

 

[Widebrim]

Went to a teacher protest at downtown L.A. today, saw quite a few stingy brims on guys who appeared to be in their late-20s, early-30s. Also saw a few fedoras afterwards over on Broadway and Spring Streets. One cool cat, looked about 55, was wearing Hollywood-waisted trousers with a watch chain, open-necked sport shirt, and a black, leather stingy brim. He looked like he stepped out of Central Avenue, circa 1940.

 

[ebb]

Yes the culture has changed. We will never see fedoras homburgs etc. as common as they once were. Alot of things have changed. Used to be a man said what he meant and meant what he said. A simple handshake could be trusted, and a mans word meant something. I am glad though there are still some decent people around with integrity and values.

 

[monbla256]

Won't Happen 'fraid times have changed sufficiently....

... to the point that hat wearing will not be as universally engaged in as it was in the 19th & early/mid 20th century. I grew up here in Texas with my father ALWAYS wearing a hat ( his LBJ's and good Fedora's for Sunday) and got my first LBJ when I graduated from high school back in the late 60's. We probably have more hat's worn down here in Texas, most having been Western but with the increased urbanization of the state even that is changing quickly now. ( mostly ball caps on the boys in the "hood" ) . In the upper level urban areas you see a lot of Tilley type on the weekends but as for Fedora's narry a one is to be seen! I've been wearing LBJ's and now my Akubra's since 1967 and probably will forever but I stand out in the crowd of naked & ball capped headed males seen around here. But then we can all dream, right

 

[bumphrey hogart]

I live in the far south west of England,its major industry is tourism,so I don't know whether the reason I see so many hats is because people feel because they are on holiday they can wear a hat or whether it's a sign of a greater trend,even the local asda(walmart) sells them.Admittedly the vast majority are cheap cloth things but more and more are in a trilby/fedora stingy brim style,and more youngsters are wearing them.I certainly don't feel as in a minority as I used too,and the reasons for wearing a hat?Well for me,yes,I suppose there must be a style thing in there somewhere,why else would I have so many,and my own rules for what hats are appropriate for each outfit,and each situation,(porkpies for in town casually,classic snapbrim for smarter,wider brim for outdoors,etc),but essentially they're so damn practical,you don't have to carry an umbrella or parasol,keeps your head warm in the cold,cool in the sun, the fact that they can also look good is almost immaterial.I went for years just wearing my battered old tilley,and I think that's the point,if you look back,most of us started wearing a hat for an essentialy practical reason,thought if we're going to wear one find a style we like,couldn't wear a baseball,etc,and then as you begin to see whats out there,understand about wool felt and fur felt and all the different styles so the hat thing starts,and what a marvelous thing it is.So getting back to the point,of all of those kids now wearing the horrible cloth stingy brim nightmares,a percentage are going to find their way through to proper hats, and I'm happy with that,as long as there are enough people buying hats to keep a reasonably health industry and there aren't so few of us that people stand in the street pointing and laughing,and it does seem that I'm seeing more and more decent hats about,what do we really care.I shall be reaching for a hat as I go to leave the house until the day I die,and I know you all will too!

 

[danofarlington]

I live in the far south west of England,its major industry is tourism,so I don't know whether the reason I see so many hats is because people feel because they are on holiday they can wear a hat or whether it's a sign of a greater trend,even the local asda(walmart) sells them.Admittedly the vast majority are cheap cloth things but more and more are in a trilby/fedora stingy brim style,and more youngsters are wearing them.I certainly don't feel as in a minority as I used too,and the reasons for wearing a hat?Well for me,yes,I suppose there must be a style thing in there somewhere,why else would I have so many,and my own rules for what hats are appropriate for each outfit,and each situation,(porkpies for in town casually,classic snapbrim for smarter,wider brim for outdoors,etc),but essentially they're so damn practical,you don't have to carry an umbrella or parasol,keeps your head warm in the cold,cool in the sun, the fact that they can also look good is almost immaterial.I went for years just wearing my battered old tilley,and I think that's the point,if you look back,most of us started wearing a hat for an essentialy practical reason,thought if we're going to wear one find a style we like,couldn't wear a baseball,etc,and then as you begin to see whats out there,understand about wool felt and fur felt and all the different styles so the hat thing starts,and what a marvelous thing it is.So getting back to the point,of all of those kids now wearing the horrible cloth stingy brim nightmares,a percentage are going to find their way through to proper hats, and I'm happy with that,as long as there are enough people buying hats to keep a reasonably health industry and there aren't so few of us that people stand in the street pointing and laughing,and it does seem that I'm seeing more and more decent hats about,what do we really care.I shall be reaching for a hat as I go to leave the house until the day I die,and I know you all will too!

When I wear my dress hats into town, I see the young men with their stingy brims look at my hat with seeming approval. As an older guy, I'm not expected to have a stingy brim, but I think hat wearers like the space given by seeing someone else wear a hat, assuming it looks pretty good. As you mention, there are a multitude of new style opportunities opened up by hat wearing, both by men and women, and given the fact that different people like different styles, you get a carnival effect in a way. Once during Hallowe'en twenty years ago my girl friend wanted me to wear a mask on the street in town at night in the bar section. Why, I asked. "Because it's fun," she said. A light went off in my head. I had never thought of wearing things that way before. Now I think the same way about hats. You're playing with style; hopefully it looks good; but whether it does or not, you've moved beyond bland appearances of everyday life.

 

[danofarlington]

I live in the far south west of England...aren't so few of us that people stand in the street pointing and laughing,,,

One thing I would like to add. I live here in the Washington, D.C. area, and there are a lot of African Americans, and many Hispanics too. What I have found is that African American men seem to be much more interested in style than others are. I am much more likely to get a positive glance or a quick nice comment about the hat from an African American man than from others. They are checking out the style, being interested in it, and are much less likely to take offense at wearing different styles like hats. Actually I think they think that someone besides them wearing a hat gives them more space to do it themselves, a good thing. On the other hand, in Minnesota where I spent my first 26 years, and which is pretty much a monoracial place, I would expect to get mocked for anything I wore that deviated from the ordinary, so I didn't do it much when I lived there. Although it is probably different now, many decades hence, it sounds like your case there in the U.K.

 

[Neophyte]

What I have found is that African American men seem to be much more interested in style than others are.

You know, come to think of it, many of the men I've seen wearing nice hats here in Klendathu (and I'm talking NICE!) have been African American. Especially in the downtown area, where the businessmen come to get lunch and coffee!

 

[bumphrey hogart]

It's the same in the uk,though where I live is mono racial,in the cities where we have big afro-caribbean populations they've always worn great hats,it was seeing all those guys in their leather porkpies and felt trilbies that first gave me the courage to try the styles I so admired on the likes of Bogey and Grant,and to digress a little,we often wonder about the reason for the decline of hat wearing and state the car and less outdoor lifestyles.I don't really see it,there were plenty of cars about in the 30's and 40's,and lots of cities were people worked indoors.Hair,as I see it was the big change,up until the fifties what you wore on your head was your statement,fifties the quiff, early sixties moptop,late long hair,seventies spikypunk,eighties,the flick,all of these styles and others not mentioned precluded hat wearing,and maybe that's why hat wearing continued to be more popular amongst the African origin populations,hair styles haven't seemed to play such a big part in style statements as in their white counterparts'.

 

[danofarlington]

Hair,as I see it was the big change,up until the fifties what you wore on your head was your statement,fifties the quiff, early sixties moptop,late long hair,seventies spikypunk,eighties,the flick,all of these styles and others not mentioned precluded hat wearing,and maybe that's why hat wearing continued to be more popular amongst the African origin populations,hair styles haven't seemed to play such a big part in style statements as in their white counterparts'.

That sounds right. Hair is my explanation for the demise of the hat in the U.S. Those that weren't defined by their hair were free to pursue hats. But whatever the reason, I like to get encouragement in the daring fashion of "hats."

 

[DesertDan]

The reason for the proliferation of baseball caps is that, at least in the US, in most cases they are either very inexpensive or free. Furthermore, they require virtually no maintenance except the occasional toss into the washiing machine and ultimately they are disposable.

 

[CRH]

...I am glad though there are still some decent people around with integrity and values.

... and a cool lid too! :eusa_clap

 

[Helpdesk Man]

I live in the middle-sized Finnish city which has about 46 000 people altogether and maybe 30k-35k in the main city itself (rest in the surrounding villages etc.), and I've too noticed a small surging of the hats.

Unfortunately probably all I've seen has been styleless hipsters who wears them with clothing which doesn't mesh/mix pretty much at all.

I really doubt that fedoras would ever become anything more than niche, at least in Finland.

 

[150719541]

I think wich the hat using is come back, althought the new generation prefer small brims, the old men are wearing vintage brims and today can see it in Down Town, S.L.P., the most are using western hats. Cheers ¡¡¡¡¡